


love, me normally

by butchsigurd



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Found Family, He/Him Butch Lesbian Sigurd, MAXIMUM fluff though, Nonbinary Ritsuka, Other, Slow Burn, Trans Mordred | Saber of Red, buckle up boys this is gonna be a long one, cant forget that tag, character driven af, go easy on me!, i havent written a fic in like... years., oh yeah babey this is gonna have minimal plot, sometimes u gotta write the fic u want to see in the world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-23 05:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30050262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butchsigurd/pseuds/butchsigurd
Summary: With Chaldea's population steadily growing, things have started to get more complicated. Old wounds are reopening, and all that's left to do is to face them head on.(Or, in which Ritsuka realizes their Servants are just as complicated as their circumstances.)
Relationships: Asterios | Berserker/Euryale | Archer, Brynhildr | Lancer/Sigurd | Saber, Frankenstein's Monster | Berserker of Black/Mordred | Saber of Red, Marie Antoinette | Rider/Charles-Henri Sanson | Assassin, Marie Antoinette | Rider/Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Caster, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Caster/Charles-Henri Sanson | Assassin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Caster/Charles-Henri Sanson | Assassin/Marie Antoinette | Rider
Comments: 10
Kudos: 13





	1. A Chaldean Morning/Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking out this fic! I plan for it to be a multi-chapter work with some found family and slow burn stuff going on. This is 100% self-indulgent comfort BS, but don't worry- it'll have its fair share of angst ;)  
> Chapters will start out short, bear with me! 
> 
> (Title is from Love, Me Normally by Will Wood)

“Master, duck!”

Ritsuka barely processed Mash’s words before a half-empty coffee mug collided with the wall above their head. It shattered into dust with the force of the impact, raining crumbs of ceramic into their newly-brushed hair. They pinched the bridge of their nose, sighing deeply. It had been five minutes since Marie Antoinette was summoned- the summoning circle had barely even closed- and Sanson and Amadeus had somehow managed to make the entirety of Chaldea look like ground zero.

“Can somebody help me calm these two down?” Roman cried, dodging a lamp as it was flung across the room. It hit the coffee maker and sent it to the floor with a crash, spilling the pot of coffee on the floor. He shrieked as he slipped on the spilled drink, fruitlessly attempting to keep his balance. “I feel like I’m playing monkey in the middle here!” 

“I’m trying, Doctor!” Mash snapped, attempting to wrestle a paperweight out of Amadeus’ hand before he had a chance to throw it at his rival.  
“Stop! Why is everyone fighting?” Marie cried, attempting to calm the two quarreling servants. Ritsuka couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her- the thought of being in the middle of this volatile love triangle was enough to make them shudder.

“Because of him!” Sanson and Amadeus replied in unison, pointing at each other. Mash used the momentary distraction to confiscate the paperweight. Ritsuka shook their head, ruffling their hair to get out the remains of the shattered coffee mug. The pieces of porcelain clattered to the ground pitifully.

“Okay, we get it, you both have a thing for Marie and you don’t like to share, can we move on now?” they asked, shooting the two bickering servants a glare as they tried to stammer out a rebuttal. “It’s 10 in the morning and I already have a migraine. Duke it out in a way that doesn’t compromise my morning coffee, will you? Go play a game of chess or however else you settle things.” 

Still glaring at each other, the two men mumbled in petulant agreement. Ritsuka picked up the coffee maker and set it back on the table, inspecting it for damage as Roman grabbed a broom and dustpan to gather the debris. 

"Oh, and you two are cleaning up. We just lost like 50 dollars of mugs."

The two servants immediately began shouting at each other again, and Ritsuka's ears began to ring. 

Just the beginning to another wonderful day in Chaldea.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Ritsuka were prone to idolization, they would have quickly learned that the phrase “never meet your heroes” existed for a reason. They’d met more Servants than they could count on both hands, and barely any of them had been what they’d expected. Saint Martha enjoyed Call of Duty, Asterios took a liking to origami, and Merlin had established himself as the “Official” Chaldea Table Hockey Champion. In a way, they were grateful for it- it was always easy to forget that long-dead heroes were just as complex as everyone else. On the other hand, it was always jarring to walk in on Mozart and Moriarty playing Dance Dance Revolution in the recreation room. 

The lack of predictability had quickly become a staple of Chaldea in Ritsuka’s mind. With so many different people, and new ones being summoned whenever they had the resources, a day never passed uneventfully. It was rare to find a moment of peace unless they went to the Library. 

The Library was empty most of the time, but when it wasn’t, it was usually occupied by Servants looking for a precious moment of peace and quiet. Euryale would sometimes be there with Asterios, reading to him if he got overstimulated. Sigurd could be found occasionally reading a novel or historical text, though one time after a particularly taxing mission Ritsuka found him sleeping with a book resting on his face. Most of the caster-class servants spent their fair share of time there too, perusing the shelves for any new spells or information. 

They hummed contemplatively as they flicked through a history book at one of the tables there, attempting to ignore whatever ruckus was happening outside. Despite their headache, they found they didn’t mind the chaos as much as they initially expected to in the long-term. The constant chatter of Chaldea reminded them that for now, they were safe- there were no new threats, no enemies running amok, and no Servants trying to destroy humanity. 

Even the pettiest quarrels served as a reminder that despite everything, they had a home.


	2. The Breakfast Club: Chaldea Edition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh finally another chapter done! I've gotten back into the swing of things while writing so I'm feeling pretty good about this one!
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated. Even if you don't think your comment would mean much, it always does!

Sigurd identified himself as a semi-early riser. Every morning he’d wake up at 7, drag himself out of bed, and meander his way to the cafeteria to get his first pick for whatever type of coffee he wanted. Not many servants were out and about at the time, so it was often quiet, but a few others could be found milling about early, as well. Sigurd took a sip of his coffee, peering over the rim of the mug and waving as Siegfried made his way over to the table with Asterios and Euryale not far behind. 

“Good morning,” Sigurd greeted. Siegfried gave him a wry smile and a nod in response.

“Good morning, Dragon Boys,” Euryale said from her usual perch atop Asterios’ shoulder. “I see you’re still enjoying your garbage bean juice, Sigurd?” 

“Coffee was after my time,” he replied primly. “I’m enjoying the luxuries I never experienced in life.”

Euryale rolled her eyes. “Enjoy some luxuries that don’t taste like sludge, then.” 

Asterios cocked his head to the side. “What is… coffee?” he asked. “Can… I try?” Sigurd shrugged and nodded, handing Asterios his mug. 

“Small sips at first. It’s not for everyone.” Asterios nodded vigorously in understanding. He took a small sip, immediately scrunching his nose up in disgust. He handed Sigurd’s mug back and made a strained sound. 

“Tastes like mud… no thanks,” he said. Euryale giggled, patting Asterios on the head.

“You don’t have to drink it, don’t fret,” Siegfried chuckled. They bantered good-naturedly until the sound of a door opening rang through the room. Everyone went quiet and looked into the doorway. Sigurd strained to see around Asterios. A small, black-haired girl poked her head in the room, analyzing her surroundings curiously. Her eyes fell on the small group at the table. 

“Hello! Do you mind if we join you?” she asked, walking fully into the room. Behind her was a tall, rather intimidating man. He remained quiet. The girl seemed more energetic than anyone else at the table, especially since it was early in the morning. Sigurd found himself slightly envious- he had always been sluggish early in the day. 

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” Siegfried replied. The two new Servants trotted over to the table, sitting down in the two empty chairs by Sigurd. 

“Pardon my manners. I haven’t introduced myself,” Sigurd said, mentally kicking himself before turning to the newest members of the table. “I’m a saber-class Servant. My true name is Sigurd, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I am Siegfried, also saber-class.”

“I am… Asterios. Berserker.” He announced his name proudly, happy at getting the chance to introduce himself. 

“Euryale. I am an archer.”

“I am Ushiwakamaru. Rider-class Servant,” she replied, offering a smile. 

“You may call me Benkei,” the man said. “I’m a lancer-class Servant, and Lord Ushiwakamaru’s retainer.”

“We are pleased to meet you four, as well,” Ushiwakamaru concluded.

“Looking for a bit of quiet before the day starts, I assume?” Siegfried asked with a small smile. Ushiwakamaru nodded.

“As much as I’m enjoying my time at Chaldea, it’s nice to be able to hear my own thoughts once in a while,” she snickered. Benkei nodded in agreement.

“I can understand that,” Siegfried replied with a laugh. “It took quite a while for me to get used to the chaos here. I’m sure you’ll adapt just fine, you seem to be adjusting well.” 

“For me, half the battle was getting used to having a long-term Master outside of a Holy Grail War,” Sigurd chuckled. “I’ve had the most spare time here than I’ve had since my life as a human, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself. Norsemen have always been boisterous, though, so that part just reminds me of home.” 

Asterios made a grunt of assent. “Labyrinth… quiet. Not like norsemen. Here? Very loud… many... people.” 

“Hey, you six!” someone said. Sigurd nearly jumped out of his seat at the sudden noise. He peered around Asterios and Siegfried to get a look at the approaching Servant. “I made rice and miso soup, do you want some? Or are you just gonna take up seating space to chit-chat?” Oh, it was Emiya. Sigurd gave him a subtle nod in greeting. 

Euryale rolled her eyes. “Good morning to you too, Emiya.”

“I’d like some, personally,” Ushiwakamaru replied. All the others nodded in agreement.

“I see you have some new members of your little breakfast club,” Emiya quipped. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Emiya.” 

“Ushiwakamaru! Pleasure to meet you as well,” she chirped. 

“I’m Benkei, Lord Ushiwakamaru’s retainer. It’s nice to meet you too.”

Emiya nodded and waved in response, making his way back to the kitchen. He returned shortly with the food he’d prepared, setting it down on the table. Sigurd immediately grabbed a bowl of soup and some rice- Emiya’s cooking was never something he’d pass up.

“You better hurry up and eat, it’s around 10 minutes until everyone else starts trickling in. I don’t think Asterios wants to deal with Mordred and his morning antics,” Emiya sighed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Asterios made a sound of dissent, leaning into Euryale’s hand as she patted his head. He handed her a bowl of soup, taking care not to crush it.

“Mordred… kind. Mordred is… also loud. Don’t like loud.”

“Growing up in such a quiet place must have made you very sensitive to sound,” Benkei commented, taking a bite of rice.

“It’s probably really jarring, huh?” Ushiwaka asked. “Since you mentioned growing up in a labyrinth. Do you mean *the* Labyrinth?” Asterios nodded as he drank directly from the soup bowl. 

“Hurts… my ears. Reminds me of… bad things. I don’t like yelling.” The others at the table nodded in sympathy as he went back to drinking his soup.

“I’m used to it at this point,” Emiya said. “But I can’t say I like cleaning up after everyone if they decide to make a mess of things.” 

“Oh, I remember a few weeks ago Cú came barging in while Sigurd was getting coffee. He got startled and spilled it all over himself,” Siegfried said innocently, the ghost of a mischievous smile on his face. Sigurd nearly choked on his rice. Traitor! He promised he wouldn’t mention it! He shot Siegfried a glare, but there was no real malice in it. “He dropped the mug and got out his sword. Cú looked like he had a heart attack on the spot.” 

“It was a reflex!” Sigurd cried in defense as the table burst into laughter. 

“I used to startle people on purpose all the time when I was young,” Ushiwakamaru giggled. “Almost got me stabbed a few times, but it was *so* worth it to see the looks on their faces.” Benkei let out a fond, but exasperated sigh as he recalled the memory.

Asterios grinned, setting down his empty soup bowl. “Even… nobles… need have… fun,” he offered. Ushiwakamaru nodded sagely.

“See? He gets it!” She laughed, reaching across the table to give Asterios a fistbump. He returned it gently. Emiya rolled his eyes, trying to hide an amused smile. 

The sound of footsteps and distressed babbling caught Sigurd’s attention right before the door slammed open. Asterios flinched as a screaming Merlin sprinted through the dining room, Fou in close pursuit. Euryale gave him a kiss on one of his horns. 

“That’s our cue to get out of here,” Euryale sighed. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” Asterios waved goodbye as he got out of his chair, careful not to drop Euryale. The others at the table said their goodbyes as Asterios trotted out of the dining room. Emiya waved to the remaining four as he made his way back to the kitchen, presumably to prepare for the onslaught of Servants that would arrive soon. 

Sigurd finished his coffee with a huff and stood up. “I should probably get going as well. Ushiwakamaru, Benkei, would you like to join us here from now on? It’s always nice to have company during our little breakfast meetings.”

“I’d love to!” Ushiwakamaru exclaimed, grinning. 

Benkei’s lips barely quirked upward into a smile. “I would also be happy to join all of you from this point forward.”

Sigurd and Siegfried exchanged a look and a smile. “Then it’s settled,” Sigurd replied. “I’ll see you all tomorrow morning, then.” The others waved as he made his way out of the dining room, strolling down the hall as he steeled himself for the day ahead. He sighed. With no battles to win, his days were often devoid of any plans. What was he going to do today..?

“Sigurd!” A voice called. He turned around to face whomever it came from. 

“Good morning, Marie,” he replied, offering a polite smile to the new Servant as she jogged up to him. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes, actually,” she replied, trotting down the hall. Sigurd followed her, holding open the door for her once they reached the training room. “My combat skills are quite a bit rusty, you see, and Amadeus told me you’re usually available to train.”

Ah, that made sense. “You caught me at a good time, I think. I have nothing else planned right now, so I’d be happy to help,” he said with a smile. Marie clasped her hands together and grinned.

“Thank you very much!” She chirped, bouncing on her toes excitedly. 

“It’s no problem,” he replied. “How much do you know about combat already?” 

“Mostly the bare minimum,” she admitted. “Enough to put up a fight, but I’m not as experienced as you. I rely on my horse a lot of the time.” Sigurd shrugged. She was the Queen of France, he didn’t expect her to be battle-ready.

“That’s just fine,” he replied. “I’m only as skilled as I am because I’ve been training for battle since I was very young, I don’t expect you to become a master combatant overnight. Is there anything in particular you’d like to start with?”

She pondered for a moment, tapping her index finger against her chin. “Hm… Well, since I don’t carry any weapons, maybe hand-to-hand? That would be the most pragmatic option, no?” Sigurd nodded in agreement, relieved that she chose something he had experience with. 

“Hand-to-hand is what I know best aside from swordsmanship,” he replied with a smile. “I’d be happy to instruct you in it.” He took off the spiked spaulders that adorned his shoulders and tossed them aside, as well as his belt and cape. “Alright. I’d recommend taking off any jewelry or accessories you have that may get in the way- it’s safer for both of us that way.” Marie nodded and took off her hat, setting it near Sigurd’s discarded items. “I personally like to stretch to warm up, but it's a force of habit from when I was mortal. I won’t do my longer routine since we’re just working on the basics today,” he said, doing a few simple stretches. 

“Oh, no, I think that’s a good idea!” Marie replied as she mimicked his actions. He shrugged and smiled. 

“Whatever you prefer,” he said, doing one final stretch before straightening back up. “So. Let's start with your stance.” He shifted one leg behind him and put his fists up by his face, keeping his knees slightly bent. Marie studied his position and then did the same. “Since we’re going for practicality, this is the basic fighting stance. I’ll show you why this is important.” He moved up and threw a slow punch, lightly tapping Marie’s arms where they defended her face. “With your hands up, it’s protecting your face from any attacks, and it keeps you in a good position to strike quickly.”

He moved back to his original position. “Bending your knees helps you keep your balance. Here, straighten your legs. I’m going to kick you, but only hard enough to knock you off balance.” Marie nodded and did so, and Sigurd moved forward and swiped his leg against the side of her calf, knocking her feet out from under her. He grabbed her shoulders and hauled her back to her feet before she hit the ground. “Now, bend your knees like before. I’m gonna do the same strike.” He did so, and she stumbled, but managed to keep her balance. “See what I mean?”

She nodded vigorously, clearly excited at the new knowledge. “Yes, I do! Fascinating.” 

Sigurd offered a smile. “Okay, so now that you know the stance, show me how you’d throw a punch.” Marie nodded. She maintained the stance, keeping the hand she wasn’t punching with up by her face, and threw the punch. “Alright. Hold that there,” he said, grabbing her hand when she had extended her arm fully. “Firstly, excellent job maintaining the stance and keeping your other hand up. Only one criticism,” he said. He opened her hand and moved her thumb to the outside before closing it back into a fist. “Thumb outside the fist. If you hit something with your thumb held between your other fingers, you’re gonna break your thumb.” 

“Ohhhhhh,” she said, nodding in understanding. “That does make sense.” She tried throwing the punch again, this time doing so correctly. She looked up to Sigurd for approval. He raised his eyebrows, impressed.

“You’re a fast learner,” he quipped. She grinned, throwing another punch just to remind herself of her new skill. “Now, let’s work on some other techniques, yes?”

\----------------

Marie sat down onto one of the benches at the side of the room, taking a sip of water. “So,” she asked, still catching her breath, “How did I do?” Sigurd looked over at her from where he was putting his discarded equipment back on. 

“Excellent, really,” he said with a nod of approval. “I’m very impressed, but… Why are you sipping your drink so gently? I can’t imagine doing anything except knocking it back in one shot when I’m worn out.”

“As you said earlier, force of habit from when I was mortal. I was taught to be very dainty and polite under all circumstances, so I suppose that just carried over into this form, as well.” She shrugged and took another sip. “So, would you like to do this again tomorrow? Maybe we can spar, to test my skills?” she inquired hopefully. 

“It is always important to test your ability to actually apply what you’ve learned in a real-time situation, so given how fast you’re picking up on the techniques, I don’t see why we couldn’t.” He offered her a sly grin. “I’ll go easy on you at first,” he teased. 

“I’ll be sure to work hard enough to give you a challenge!” she replied. “Same time tomorrow, then?” she asked. 

“That would be fine with me,” he replied. “I’ll see you then, Marie.” 

“I look forward to it!” she replied, before hopping off the bench and bounding out of the training room. Sigurd smiled fondly- he had his work cut out for him.


End file.
